The Helmsley Center for Genomic Research will be led by renowned cancer biologist Inder Verma.

The Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla has received one of the largest single research donations in county history, a $42 million gift that will be used to explore common links between some of mankind’s most insidious afflictions, including cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.

The gift was made by the New York-based Helmsley Charitable Trust, which says it reached beyond its base in the Northeast to help Salk because of the institute’s record for groundbreaking discoveries.

The trust was referring to people like Salk geneticist Fred Gage, who discovered that humans can grow nerve cells throughout their lives, including new cells in their brains. The finding has implications for everything from Parkinson’s disease to spinal-cord injuries.

Gage is one of a half-dozen top Salk scientists who will shape the new Helmsley Center for Genomic Research, which will involve 12 of Salk’s 44 laboratories. The labs will pump up their ability to study genes, proteins and metabolites, all crucial areas of biomedical research. The nonprofit institute also will expand its study of whether there’s a link between inflammation and chronic disease.

“This is a transformative gift for us,” said Inder Verma, the Salk cancer biologist who will lead the project. “It allows our scientists to come together on something that’s of fundamental importance to society.”

The main science team also includes biologist Ron Evans, whose work on hormones has led to scores of drugs, and biologist Reuben Shaw, who is publishing a paper this week that says a widely used derivative of the diabetes drug metformin reduced the size of lung tumors in research mice, which might eventually help some people.

Fred Gage, a perennial candidate for the Nobel Prize, will help shape the direction of the new genomics center. Salk Institute

Fred Gage, a perennial candidate for the Nobel Prize, will help shape the direction of the new genomics center.

Gage and Evans are perennial candidates for the Nobel Prize.

“Millions of people suffer from chronic illnesses, and these diseases are placing an unsustainable burden on our health-care system,” John Codey, a Helmsley Trust trustee, said in a statement. “The Helmsley Center for Genomic Medicine will help to address this by serving as an incubator for tomorrow’s clinical treatments and cures.”

The $42 million donation is the largest in the history of Salk and comes at a key moment. The institute has been operating in the black. But there’s been concern about its financial health because it has become increasingly difficult to obtain National Institutes of Health funding, as budgets have remained flat.

The problem led Salk to undertake the first large fundraising campaign in its 54-year history. The public phase of the campaign began in November, when Salk announced that it had raised $150 million to date. That figure is now $192 million, providing momentum to an institute that doesn’t have as much gene sequencing technology as many other research centers.

Self-made billionaire Harry Helmsley is shown with his wife Leona at the Empire State Building program for senior citizens on July 9, 1991. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)

Self-made billionaire Harry Helmsley is shown with his wife Leona at the Empire State Building program for senior citizens on July 9, 1991. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)

The gift also reflects growing ties between Salk and the Helmsley Trust, which has $4 billion in assets. In 2009, the trust gave Salk $5.5 million to create the Center for Nutritional Genomics, which is heavily focused on how metabolism affects cancer, obesity and diabetes. The trust gave Salk an additional $7.58 million in 2010 so that it could partner with Columbia University in New York to use stem cells to study disease and develop therapeutic drugs.